Covid19 - Legal Remedies for Intimate Partner Violence (Domestic Violence)

Legal Remedies for Intimate Partner Violence (Domestic Violence | 498A | Divorce) 

Domestic Violence today is gender agnostic. What was once considered only women to be victims of such domestic violence today's society has accepted any intimate partner irrespective of gender and orientation can be a victim to domestic abuse. 

A multi country study conducted by UN with available sample size at 90% confidence level shows that 35% of partners have been subjected to domestic violence in some form or other by their intimate partners. 26.4% Men, 43.8% Women and 61.1% LGBTQ community reports intimate partner violence. Women and LGBTQ community has reported a higher percent of sexual and physical abuse while the Men have reported mental abuse and to a greater extent financial abuse. 

One such estimate and the study conducted in 2017 showed 57% women whose death was unnatural like death due to physical assault, accident, suicides, homicides, drowning, falls etc… had an history of intimate partner violence.

Covid19 has brought a situation where people are unable to go outside and locked down. The conflicts between intimate partners have seen raising exponentially, as the quarantine takes effect world wide the intimate partner violence is now become an “intimate terrorism” such is the term used by many experts, lawyers, counselors etc… globally … such grave is the situation today. 

Before we figured out the possible legal remedies to overcome the abuse lets define who is an Intimate Partners and what are the broad categories of intimate partner violence.

Who is an Intimate Partner ?

An intimate partner is a person with whom you have or had a close personal or sexual relationship. Such partner may be heterosexual or homosexual or of any sexual orientation. 

What is Intimate Partner Violence ?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines intimate partner violence as "any behavior within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm to those in the relationship". The WHO also adds controlling behaviors as a form of abuse. 

What are the types of Intimate Partner Violence ?

- Physical Violence : is the intentional use of force with a potential of causing life threatening condition, disability, severe injury, grievous hurt, and the milder forms of physical abuse like scratching; pushing; shoving; throwing; grabbing; biting; choking; shaking; slapping; punching; burning etc.. .

- Psychological Violence : Acts of emotional torture, constraining and restraining someone from performing an act, curtailing the freedom, stalking, nagging, passing comments, taunting, using nonphysical form of violence, using abusive language, humiliating a person, isolation, invading the privacy, unauthorized access to passwords and social media content or private content etc…

- Financial Violence : Acts done by an intimate partner which causes severe financial threats, use of force either physical, or psychological and control another person’s finances against the will, further examples of financial abuse include steeling money or property, financial mischief, intentional fraud, Coercion to sign documents, forcefully taking away money or salary earned, misuse of possessions by intimate partner or his/her family members, control over bank transactions, credit card and debit cards, restraining some one to spend money on his/her parents, restraining one to spend money on his/her will, unpaid bills, unpaid EMIs and forcing the partner to pay, unnecessary subscriptions to various goods / services etc..

- Sexual Violence :  Use of physical force to compel a person to engage in a sexual act against his or her will, sexual violence, unnatural sexual behavior, use of drugs and substance abuse during sexual activity either by will or under coercion, use of derogatory sexual words, forcing to engage in acts of pornography, molestation, passing lewd comments etc… 

What are the Behaviors of people who are subjected to Intimate Partner Violence ?

We live in a society where only one face of a person is seen which he/she is willing the society to know and there exists a hidden life which the world is unaware. Same is the situation with people who are subjected to domestic abuse by intimate partners. 

We will have many friends who surely would have gone through such trauma but appear normal in front of all but suffer in silence, such suffering could be because either they accept that abuse is normal and that’s how the life is, or they may not know how to seek legal remedy. 

Firstly, one needs to identify if that person is suffering violence and you can play a vital role in helping such person by asking him/her if something is wrong, express concern and assurance, offer help and support, listen patiently without deducing inferences or conclusions. While you do so, never try to judge or blame the person. Here are some traits of persons who are subjected to intimate partner abuse …

- Such persons seem extremely anxious to please their partners

- Such persons are also seen visibly afraid of their partners

- They seem to agree with everything their partners tell, although it may not be by their free will

- They call their partners often to report where they are and with whom

- Visible signs of injuries and bruises may be commonly seen, and they may dress to hide them

- These people will be restricted to see the family and friends

- They rarely go out in public and especially they don’t spend money although they are capable of

- They may seek permission from their partners before spending money

- These people although be earning well will have limited or no access to Credit cards, money etc..

- Such persons will carry low self-esteem, you will see them often lost and depressed 

- Typically, an extrovert person will suddenly behave introvert and also carry suicidal tendencies

An observation that should trigger you investigate further or offer support will be when such a person talks about their partner’s jealousy or possessiveness, or even their temper.

What are the legal remedies available for persons subjected to Domestic Violence?

Indian Legal system has various legal remedies that can help the victims of domestic abuse, such laws are gender agnostic and applicable to Men, Women and persons of any gender orientation. 

Some sections in IPC that the abusers can be booked under but not limited to are Section 107, 109, 102A/B, 212, 302, 303, 304, 304B, 306, 307, 314, 323, 325, 341,342, 342, 354, 370, 376, 377, 379, 384, 406, 417, 426, 465, 496, 498, 498a, 500, 506, 511. 

There are many other legal remedies available including DV, Maintenance and Restraining Orders, every individual is unique and ever person who is subjected to abuse has a unique experience, while the sections imposed under law may be common, but the case build up is uncommon. The victim alone knows the challenges he/she has faced and only a learned counsel can understand the situations and draft the legal papers to seek the appropriate remedy. 

Such remedy the victim of intimate partner domestic violence shall receive in the form of compensation and / or punishment of the abuser which can extend from as less as 6 months and depending on the gravity of violence can also be subjected to life imprisonment. In rarest of the rarest cases where a persons modesty is outrages or the intensity of violence is such that has resulted in loss of life a death punishment also can be prayed. 

What should a person or his/her friend / relative parent does if they identify a person is subjected to intimate partner violence ?

- Talk to your friends and keep your near and dear ones appraised about the situation you are in and seek support. 

- Seek help from a Legal Practitioner to initiate the legal proceedings

- Dial emergency / SOS number and seek police intervention 

Very importantly figure out a way to get out of such relationship which is harmful in a long run. Eventually, one fine day the lockdown will end. But as the quarantine drags on, the danger appears likely to deepen. Studies show that abusers are more likely to cause severe life-threatening damage to their partners physically and mentally. 

Such abuse many not necessarily be habitual but also due to  and other variables in the wake of personal crises, including loss of jobs, financial setbacks, and other economic challenges. 

Prevention is better than cure, as you observe any change in behavior of your partner seek counselling in early stages as compared to a legal remedy after the abuse. 

Trust this information is helpful to the reader, feel free to write to me at lawyersonia@gmail.com or call +91 9845944896 and have a discussion. 

As I have mentioned earlier too, every individual is unique and his or her circumstance too is. A one to one discussion will certainly help you adapt to this changed reality and cope with the psychological effects, loneliness, build trust and improve self-esteem.

Help is just a call away … 😊 

HOW TO FIGHT FALSE DOWRY CASE FILED AGAINST MEN

 

How to File False Dowry Case

Vague allegations made against every member of the family of husband cannot be accepted by any court at their face value and the allegations must be scrutinized by the Court before framing charge.

One of the most common complaints most wives and their parents file against the husband and his parents beyond 498a is that of DOWRY

Furthermore, the intelligent ones will also produce the jewelry bills, money transactions beyond bank in CASH and much more to demonstrate DOWRY is given as and when the boy and his family asked for the same.  

On receiving a call from the Police Station the first thing the husband and his family get into a PANIC STAGE and jump into a compromise situation, anger is a common emotion and thoughts of vengeance and various emotive responses trigger.

The latest report compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs can be accessed following the link below, the statistics of crime against women is described between Page No. 133 and Page No. 184.

http://ncrb.gov.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2016/pdfs/Crime%20Statistics%20-%202016.pdf

While the report shows approximately 5.5 Lakh cases of 498a / Dowry are registered at least 70% are acquittals and the wife is unable to prove the charges against them. It’s a misuse of the provision and many people are using this a weapon against men and their family members to settle the scores.

The men who are unable to battle such issues successfully suffer depression an also sometimes take a step of committing suicide.

While there are multiple ways to battle false case, here is one as a case study I can share with the readers of my blog post which they can successfully use.

HOW TO FIGHT FALSE DOWRY CASE

Step 1 : Face the Police without fear, you will not be arrested immediately, only after investigation the next steps will be taken by the Police. Seek intervention from a lawyer if needed.

Step 2 : If you evade the cops, the chances are an FIR will be registered against you and you may get arrested, you can exercise your right for a Anticipatory bail or get a regular bail and be prepared to file the allegations against you.

Step 3 :  Counter Attack is the best defense, in most of the cases I have seen and dealt with the charges against the husband and his family may be fabricated and the jewelry bills submitted will be false. Go back to your financial statements and make a detailed list of items exchanged as gifts, the monetary transactions occurred in Cash / Bank and keep it handy.

Step 4 :  File an RTI and get the bills the complainant has attached to support her claims. Tally them with the statements and list you have prepared to understand how far the claims are true. Also, check your wardrobes / lockers to ensure if you have them or not. Sometimes the ornaments may belong to your wife (Sthreedhan) who would have left it in the home or purchases were made either by you or her own salary. Such purchases are not terms as dowry.

Step 5 :  File an RTI and get the bills the complainant has attached to support her claims.

Step 6 :  If you happen to discover based on your homework that the bills / receipts are false, File a Sales Tax evasion petition with the Trade & Tax department. Chances are the jeweler will be subjected to inquiry and don’t be surprised he too will face the brunt of conspiring in this case

Step 7 :   Furthermore continue the attack, because attack is the best defense you can file a case of submitting false documents to the court under section 156. Not limiting here you can also file multiple cases invoking various section of IPC like 120B (Criminal Conspiracy), 191 (False Evidence), 197 (False certificate), 499/500 (Defamation), 420 (Cheating), Section 9 of CPC for damage recovery, 468, 471,474 etc.. (Forgery of documents against jeweler and other parties)

In my opinion and 12+ years of handling family matters I can broadly classify, the failure of marriage due to the following three reasons

• Infrastructure and Privacy of the couple: In India, especially the metros people living in 2BHK have hardly any privacy for their conjugal life, and the wife for sure feels uncomfortable living in a joint family which the husband needs to realize and work out a win-win plan. Staying nuclear is a good option provided one can afford. Staying in a joint family, the girl needs to be given enough time to settle down, especially its crucial and important for the husband to pay a pivotal role in managing the relationship between his parents and wife, especially the Mother-In-Law, Sister-In-Law and Daughter-In-Law.

• Financial Challenges: Like it or not, expectation management and being realistic is very important in early married days, ensure your finances are managed carefully, credit card bills, and cashflow is critical. Save for a rainy day, and both spouses equally contribute their salaries towards the home they wish to build. It is the duty of the husband to win confidence of the wife and ensure she does not feel insecure parting her earnings towards the common goals.

• Infidelity: No Thanks to social media and online dating apps that lure both men and women towards such activities. What starts as a casual online friendship end up with something serious, many a couples I have counselled and spoken with related to the above two triggers and feel disassociated with their spouse and seek for a friend to share their experiences to begin with but later such episodes turn serious and are the cause for the marriage to break.

Further to the above three, there are many other causes which are less than 25% compared to the above three.

Trust this blog post is helpful and the reader has gained a fair knowledge on the possible steps to follow, nonetheless there are multiple ways to tackle the issues this was just one such. If you need assistance / support or need to discuss about your situation, feel free to drop a note to me at lawyersonia@gmail.com or call at 9845944896.

Feel free to share your feedback / comment on this post.

Men... the victims of Domestic Violence

Disclaimer: the intention of this article is not to weaken the struggles women face with domestic violence but also to bring in some light on the issues faced by men. Domestic violence is no longer only a women issue but impacts both sexes equally.

Over the past few years, 'domestic violence' has been defined as vehemence by men against women and children, and women's viciousness against their male partners has been considered to be either absent, or the fault of men, or has been underestimated and justified in a variety of ways to an extent where this interpretation of violence implies further that women's aggression is a reaction to men's actions toward them, blaming the victim for his plight. It is argued, for instance, that a wife who beats her husband has herself been beaten and that her violence is the violence of self-defence.

When one hears the words ‘Domestic violence’ we picture about a woman being beaten by a man… a child living in terror of an arrogant father figure … a woman with bruised face, cowering indoors afraid to upset an unstable male partner… The deep-seated prescription of domestic violence as a woman’s problem, and not a social problem affecting both sexes and their children, is now strongly entrenched in societal attitudes of various western cultures, men in India too have become vocal about this, but the public indifference towards men still exists and this not only deters many male victims from reporting intimate abuse against them, even when they have suffered severe violence, but also reinforces stereotypical attitudes towards them by police forces and social agencies, so that if they do report, they are often disbelieved or ridiculed. Unfortunately in India, Domestic violence against men in India is not recognized by the law and like women, men also find it hard to get out of abusive relationships.

An estimated 835,000 men are physically assaulted by intimate partners every year, according to the National Coalition against Domestic Violence. In recent years, there has been a spurt in the number of men who have been physically abused by their wives. Although the trauma may be the same, the methods of inflicting abuse vary. "Men are stronger and hit their wives, but women, in many cases, ask another man — their brother, father, friend or hired goons — to assault their husbands. About 1650 Husbands aged between 15-49 years and selected through random sampling were interviewed using a schedule adapted from the WHO multicounty study on Husband's health and domestic violence. The study looked at all four aspects of domestic violence — Economical, Emotional, Physical and Sexual. Economical violence was found to be the commonest with 32.8% respondents saying they had faced it at least once, followed by emotional (22.2%), by physical (25.2%) and sexual violence (17.7%). An interesting finding was that the probability of violence increased significantly with the duration of marriage particularly if it was more than seven years old.

In my experience counselling and attending to various cases, one key factor I have observed that men shy away from voicing out their problems for reasons including the welfare and access to children, in most of the cases men don’t report or brush aside and continue to stay in an abusive relationship because of the factors involving their parents. One of the cases my client told its very embarrassing for him to go back and tell his mother that his wife is harassing him and his mother being a heart patient will not be able to tolerate the trauma because it was a love marriage against his mother’s will. Another instance was an NRI husband who is married to an Indian girl faces a lot of challenges where the girls family troubles him for money matters. There are few cases of adultery where the wife is involved in but the husband for the very status in the society although coming to know about such things was unable to do anything but seek a separation on some other grounds and meet the demands of his wife during the separation process.

What should men do and how can law / lawyer help…?

In case of False Acquisitions

The most frequent form of abuse that I have come across in my practice is wife falsely filing a case against husband and her in-laws and misusing 498A. In such instances the husband and family approach the lawyer to get an anticipatory bail to protect them and then continue to fight the case which often leads to marital separation.

Having assisted individuals facing a false accusation of domestic violence for several years, I have personally experienced several incidences where my clients were charged with domestic violence crimes for which I knew they were not guilty. It’s always good to be proactive and with the help of a lawyer file the case against the wife in the nearest police station and send a legal notice to wife stating her intentions are being challenged in the court of law and under any circumstance any further false acquisition or false compliant will not hold any good any more. Being proactive is the best possible solution to overcome false acquisitions. Secondly, ensure you protect your valuables, properties, bank information, passwords,  and belongings that can be under potential threat in case of such accusations and finally stop shying away and notify family members and close friends about the abuse you are going thru which will act as an evidence in later times.  

In case of Emotional / Mental Abuse

Emotional abuse of men is the same as emotional abuse of women: it is acts, including verbal assault, that make a person feel less self-worth or dignity. Emotional abuse of men makes them feel like less of a person. Male victims of emotional abuse may experience partners that: Yell and scream, Threaten them and try to induce fear, Insult and demean them; tell them they are not worth the trouble

Socially isolate them, Lie or withhold information, Treat them like a child or servant, Control all the finances and try humiliating them condemning their sexuality. Having social contacts controlled. Being stopped from seeing or talking to friends and family. Being restricted access to the outside world / groups / organizations is another form of emotional / mental abuse one suffers.

In case of Emotional Abuse, it’s essential for men to ensure they seek help thru counselling or legal advice. Few actions men prefer to take in such cases are to leave the relationship or keep evidence of abuse for possible legal action but not retaliate to make the matters worst. A recent landmark judgement was passed in favour of the husband when his wife used to emotional abuse him calling him an elephant, While hearing a plea of a Delhi-based businessman, who faced cruelty and humiliation at the hands of his wife for being overweight and incapable of satisfying her sexual desires, the Delhi High Court recently ruled that calling your spouse ‘mota haathi’ (fat elephant) is a valid ground for divorce. In this case the woman said that the allegations levied on her were vague and non-specific. She argued that the man could not give specific instances of alleged cruelty with dates, time and particulars to which the court observed when two parties are in a marital relationship, neither is expected to maintain a logbook and note down therein each and every instance of matrimonial offence committed by the other.

In case of Economical or Financial Abuse

Victims in this case are forced to hand over their pay cheques to their partner; may not be given access to their own bank statements and other financial documents; may have money withheld or be forced to leave take heavy debt to meet unnecessary demands; abuse of credit cards, be coerced into signing bank loans and other financial documents; may lose their job because of the stress of family violence affecting their performance, some instances where wife’s family members demand monitory assistance, instances where husbands are not allowed to share / part money with their parents etc…

Economical abuse is one of its worst form where a man is found to be in a miserable state almost living a life of a slave puppet in the hands of his wife and wife’s family, the men should retaliate to this form of abuse and seek legal advice, or take a stand to mutually agree with legal documentation in place on the limitations one should put towards expenses and in-law interference in money matters. In one of the cases expressing concern over rift between couples due to parents' persistent interference in their daughter's married life, Justice Kailash Gambhir upheld a lower court's decree of divorce to a man on the ground of his in-laws' frequent interference in his marital life. Parents should not become uninvited judges of problems of their daughter, become an obstacle in the daughter's married life, plant thoughts in her mind and gain control over her and promote disharmony in her family life, the judge said.

In case of Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is not suffered by women only, men too are victims. Today’s society with access to the internet is more advanced (pervert) then what is was before. There have been several instances where men undergo sexual abuse. The stress that has built up in the urban lifestyle coupled with many lifestyle health and fitness issues have left a bad taste in the marital life, women in some cases have resorted to various means to derive sadistic pleasure from their partners and also have gone to an extent seeking pleasure outside marriage, adultery in case of wife is not punishable offence. Various forms of sexual abuse exist in the society arising out of sheer dissatisfaction in marital life or simply vengeance that wife carries towards her husband. Cheating on the husband is another form of emotional sexual abuse which is grave in its kind leading to extreme disharmony in marital life. Many men in abusive relationships do not feel in control of their own sex life, their partners may demand or coerce intercourse, may make derisory comments about their manhood or ridicule them in public. Many men also experience "sex as a reward for good behaviour" and the opposite of being denied any intimacy if they have (knowingly or not) done something to displease their partners, as being an abusive use of sexuality.

Suffering in any kind is not a sign of happy married life, men have all rights to file complaints against their wife for the untoward behavior, the emotional damage done is to a very great extent in such cases and no matter how much of counselling conducted levees very less chances for the scars to vanish. In such cases the only resort often happens is separation, more often than not the reason for separation will be emotional stress caused and very less cases the victims will open up with the facts of abuse.

Times are changing and there are various forums / men rights social organizations and NGOs who are upholding rights for men. There are various self-help forums for men and communities formed where men can feel free to discuss their issues. It’s a tough stand one needs to take, the society we live in and keeping in mind the future life often we tend to amicably resolve issues and in very less time want to get out form a troubled relationship, vengeance will not resolve the purpose, there are cases that are filed in the courts of law which are still awaiting their turn to come up for hearing and life continues to suffer. The intelligent prefer to get out of trouble and mutually agree for whatever good or bad to part off and continue new life…

For those looking for ways in which they can help defend their charges in a court of law, seeking out a consultation from a skilled domestic violence lawyer in your best interest can reach out to me writing into lawyersonia@gmail.com for any guidance and legal assistance.